A number of applications exist wherein it is desirable to monitor blood flow and especially in those situations wherein the patient is ambulatory. It is thus desirable to monitor blood flow with insignificant or minimal interference with a person's normal activities and especially avoiding the necessity of weighing a person down with heavy, bulky and/or clumsy monitoring devices which interfere with typical daily activities, as well as persons confined to bed.
It is further desirable to provide a device which, in addition to being small in size, is of a simplified design to assure accuracy and ruggedness and which utilizes the least complicated method for detecting blood flow rate which is non-invasive and is disposable and hence is inexpensive in design and manufacture in order to meet the cost requisites making it practical to dispose of a monitor after a single use.